Here I Go!

[cpeteraf]

After years of pain and confusion following bilateral FAO surgery and a gradual descent into the category of "severe" arthritis, I finally have a real solution for my pain.  I'm having my left hip resurfaced by Dr. Edwin Su at HSS, this Tuesday! 
I'm a 27 y/o female and the severity of this surgery is not lost on me. I'm nervous and scared knowing that this will affect me for the rest of my life. However, I am so excited to be able to get back to my life as an athlete. After feeling like so many options were closed off to me, I feel like the world is about to open up with possibilities.
I'm not totally unfamiliar with the process of surgery and recovery. However, any advice you guys have is appreciated! Is there anything you wish you had with you in the hospital? Anything you wish you had set up at home?? Any advice for the jitters?
Thank you all!

[Pat Walter]

Good luck.  You can't do any better than Dr. Su.  I am also glad to hear you will be receiving a hip resurfacing since you are a women.

A lot of folks will talk with you about your recovery.  You don't have much time to be nervous about.  Think about how well you will be doing in a few weeks and how great your late fall and winter will be.  Be positive - it will happen.

Would you start your story about your surgery and recovery in the Hip Stories section.  I also want other females to be able to find it and read it.  All of us women have not been left out of the hip resurfacing procedure.

Best of Luck.  I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Pat

[blinky]

It will be great! Best of luck.


Immediately post op, relax and let them take care of you. Stay ahead of the pain. That was the best advice I got. Your leg will feel like a log, not like part of your body, at first, but that will pass. Your BP might be low, so get up slowly. Nothing I wish I had in the hospital....husband brought me good coffee.


At home? This is when I started to worry about pooping and eating. Mentally I was fuzzy and preoccupied, so couldn't do much reading or real thinking. TV and Netflix were great. Be patient and let yourself heal. Can't think  of anything I needed and didn't have. I learned to eat at regular intervals to keep my blood sugar even and generally tried to eat healthy foods. Ice often. If you have trouble with constipation, come back here and let's talk.  Maybe stock up on Milk of Magnesia before you leave home.

[pfitz38]

Hello
I am a bilateral patient of Dr Su's. Left hip in Sept 15 and Right in December 15. I could not be happier with the results. Dr Su was great, HSS was great and the recovery was great. Went home the next day after each surgery and needed only Motrin for the pain. I am just about back to everything I was doing before surgery. Best of luck.


Peter

[catfriend]

I was so nervous in the lead up to the surgery (plus I was having my "good days") I seriously considered cancelling or postponing so I understand how you feel. As Blinky stated stay ahead of the game. I am also a woman (Blinky too). Both of our stories are on this website. Mine is also at hipresurfacingwoman.com. I haven't updated in a few weeks because there's been nothing to report. It's quite long, but if you scroll down you'll find my entry on home preparations. (The order: surgery and recovery -very long; the constipation issue; home prep; then a couple of entries on how I got there.) Good luck!

[karlos.bell]

    LOL   cpeteraf Hi
You will be fine........ FAI and your age what a bugger!! Mine set in my late 30's early 40's and there was no real substantial help due FAI is not a degenerate condition but can itself can degenerate the hip joint. My personal experience anyway. Add injury on top of that and your hip joint changes but you never loose enough cartilage to be bone on bone. Maybe yours did I am not sure but every time I went for an XRAY they reported I was a young man  with young man hips....... Yeah Right........ Ok what I am saying is I have empathy and sympathy for you as I am seeing on this site more and more FAI experiences.
Example for years and years I had pain from the back always up the to the shoulders and mostly when standing. The back  muscles were working real hard to compensate way back then so how long I put up with it is unsure years and years when I look back. I don't get those issues anymore now amazing...

I had my bilateral last year April. Finished half marathon in the rain the other day and getting fitter and fitter by the week. My hips (muscles) took a massive blow after all the weakness of years of suffering and pain (7 years on crutches) bilateral resection pincer dominant, also Scoping right hip x 2 all did not help.

Then Dr Koen De Smet Bilateral resurfacing. So now I am back climbing hills. I still have a long way to go but it seems on-wards and upwards from here. Ok exercises I found help due your muscles are weak from  FAI already is just a pure simple squat..... x 20 each day.
If you can get a rubber bungee - rope and wrap it around the table or a fixed structure hold onto it and use it for stability and squat down as far as you can. This gets the range of movement up and keeps the Glut max and Quads working.
Use then the bungee for all other exercises you can do with the hip. Flexion, glut med, Glut min, just do it to keep them moving within you pain tolerance. Later on you may find your own exercise Pattern.
I have had a little help in rehab but mostly it is self help that I am finding once the hip starts working again is to help it out in that region.
To be most positive I lost my job I love back in 2008. I am now looking back for employment so that in itself is pretty cool when told in 2008 there was no help for me I would never walk properly again in life "except it". So its pretty cool now to be in this position, lots to look forward to.
FAI is not a cool thing its massively painful and corrupts your life with very little answers only to the very experienced.
The jitters is normal.
Good luck your doing the right thing get the top specialist that do this all the time to help you out due you want it right and hopefully those hips last the rest of your life. I am being positive they will if positioned correctly.
Hope this calms your nerves... again good luck....

Cheers K

[catfriend]

Also - if you have time get your legs waxed and have a pedicure. You'll thank yourself later.  Good luck!